Seeking Sanctuary criticises France over migrants

THE charity Seeking Sanctuary has expressed “deep concern” about the increase in people risking their lives to cross the English Channel this summer. A woman and a baby were among 32 suspected migrants rescued from small boats this week. A Home Office spokesperson said: “The criminal gangs who perpetuate this are ruthless and do not care about loss of life. We have Border Force cutters patrolling the Channel and equipment including drones, CCTV, and night vision goggles in use to identify and tackle this dangerous and illegal activity.” The co-director of Seeking Sanctuary, Ben Bano, said that the answer was not simply increasing surveillance. “There is nothing illegal about seeking sanctuary from violence and oppression. If these exiles were treated with a degree of humanity and respect rather than being endlessly harassed in France, they are less likely to resort to traffickers and risk death by using unorthodox means to try to reach the UK.”

Glasgow University to raise £20m for slavery reparations

THE University of Glasgow has agreed to raise and spend £20 million over the next 20 years on a “programme of restorative justice”, after discovering that it benefited from millions of pounds made through the slave trade. The university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the West Indies last week which commits the institutions to co-founding a co-located Caribbean Centre for Development Research. In a report last year, Glasgow University found that, while it was part of the abolitionist movement in the 18th and 19th centuries, it also received significant financial support from people whose wealth was derived, in part, from slavery. The Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, said: “Talking about any institution’s or country’s historical links to slavery can be a difficult conversation, but we felt it was a necessary one for our university to have.”